United States Attorney Robert Pitman announced that in Austin this afternoon, 48-year-old Solomon Hobbs, Jr., (a.k.a. Virgil Clinton Powell) of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $37,000 in student loans.

In addition, United States District Judge Lee Yeakel ordered that Hobbs pay $37,395.00 restitution and be placed under supervised release for a period of five years after completing his prison term.

In August, Hobbs pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, three counts of student assistance program fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. By pleading guilty, Hobbs admitted that since 2004, he developed a scheme to fraudulently obtain $37,395.05 in federal student financial aid, including $6,573.50 by using another individual's name and identifying information, from five universities in Texas including: University of Texas at Tyler, University of Texas at El Paso, University of Texas at Arlington, Midwestern State University (Wichita Falls) and Texas State University. Hobbs further admitted that he had no intent of using the financial aid for educational expenses after repeatedly obtaining funds, then failing out of the institutions due to his lack of attendance.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Freel prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.